Prepositional verbs

What are the two prepositions?
What is different about them?
Click
here when
you have thought about that.

The first preposition is IN

This preposition tells us where the action
is happening. It is connected to the office.
Other examples of prepositions doing this are: I took a holiday in July
(telling us when) I came here for
the sunshine (telling us why) He is waiting on the
platform(telling us where)
These prepositions connect a verb with a noun.

The second preposition is ON

This preposition does not tell us when, why or where.
It connects the verb to the object.
We do not always need a preposition so we can say, for example: I am doing my work
I have finished the job I have started writing
and so on. In these sentences, the verbs (do, finish
and start) are followed immediately by the object (my
work, the job and writing) and we do not need a
preposition.
Some verbs, however, always
need a preposition when they are followed by the objects.
For example: I complained about the
food
I asked for a different meal
I insisted on having a new dish
etc.
In these sentences, the preposition is not connected to a noun.
The preposition comes with the verb. They are called
prepositional verbs and that is what
this lesson is about.

So, what's the problem?

There are two problems, in fact:

You have to learn the verb plus the preposition as a single
piece of language because you cannot guess which preposition you
should use.

These verbs are not phrasal verbs so you cannot separate the
verb and the preposition. For example, it is possible to
say: I cut
the food up
or I filled
the form in
because these are phrasal verbs and you can usually separate the
verb and the adverb with the object.
Very often, when the object is a pronoun, you must separate the
verb: I cut it up
I filled it in
NOT
I cut up it I filled in it
With prepositional verbs you can NEVER separate
the verb and the preposition with the object. So we can
say: I complained about the food
and I complained about it
BUT NOT I complained
the food about
or I complained
it about

Two sorts of prepositional verbs

In this list, five of the sentences are correct and five
are wrong.
What do the verbs mean? (use a dictionary if you need one)
Can you see which ones are wrong?
Can you say why?
Click
here when
you have thought about that and written down the numbers of
the wrong and right sentences.

I admitted to the offence

It amounted

I admitted

I argued about the price

I longed

I argued

I looked at the bird

I relied

I looked

He vouched for

Here are the answers:

Sentence 1: I admitted to breaking the window

This verb means agree that something is true.
The sentence is correct because admit to is
always
followed by an object. We can also say, for example She admitted to the mistakeor
She admitted to making a mess

Sentence 2: It amounted

This verb means make a total.
The sentence is wrong because amount toalways
takes an object. We have to say something like: It amounted to £5
or It amounted to over 10 kilos

Sentence 3: I admitted

This sentence is wrong because admit to must have
an object (see sentence 1)

Sentence 4: I argued about the price

This sentence is correct because we can have an object with
the verb argue about. WE can also say, for
example: They argued about which film to see
or They argued about the government

Sentence 5: I longed

This verb means want very much.
This sentence is wrong because we must say
what we wanted.
The verb always takes an object so we can have, for example: I longed for my holiday to start
or I longed for a letter from her

Sentence 6: I argued

This sentence is correct because we do not
always have to
say what we argued about.

Sentence 7: I looked at the bird

This sentence is correct because we usually have an
object with look at.

Sentence 8: I relied

This verb means depend on or trust.
The sentence is wrong because rely on always takes an object so
we need to say, e.g.:I relied on his help
orI relied on you to be here

Sentence 9: I looked

This sentence is correct because we do not always have to
have an object with this verb.

Sentence 10: He vouched for

This verb means guarantee something or say that
someone is honest and trustworthy.
The sentence is wrong because vouch for always takes an object
so we need to say, for example: I vouched for him
or She vouched for the truth of what I said

Here is a list of common prepositional verbs. The ones on
the left always take an object. The ones on the right can take
an object or they can stand alone without an object.
We call the verbs on the left transitive and the verbs on the right
intransitive. In a dictionary, you will often see that this is
marked.

Look in your dictionary now for any words you do
not know and see how transitivity and intransitivity are
marked.

Transitive verbs

Intransitive or transitive verbs

account for
admit to
amount to
bear on
consist of
count on
long for
rely on
stick to
suspect of
thank for
vouch for

abstain from
approve of
argue about
ask for
care about
comment on
complain
about
concentrate on
conform to
connive at
depend on
decide on
hang around
insist on

laugh at
look at
object to
participate in
plan on
quarrel about
row about
succeed in
suffer from
react to
refrain from
talk of
vote for
wish for

Be careful!

Do not think that in this sentence: I decided to go
we have the verb decide and the preposition to.
We do not.
This is the verb followed by the to-infinitive of the verb
go.
Verbs in English often come linked like this. For example: I want to come to help
I intend to go later
I remembered to buy her a present
etc. and we do not have the preposition to in any of these
sentences. They are all verbs followed by a to-infinitive.

The test is to put a noun or an -ing form, after
decide and then we have: I decided on the blue one
or I decided on holidaying in France
because the preposition which goes with decide is on.

Here is another example:
We can say: I plan to have a holiday
but, again, the is the verb followed by the to-infinitive.
When it is followed by a noun or an -ing form, it works
like this: I plan on seeing him tomorrow
I plan on a new job next year.

All prepositions in English can be followed by an -ing
form.

In the tests at the end, you need to be careful not to make this
mistake.